What is the chemical that burns to keep a sparkler sparkling?

Senior Moments

http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa061602a.htm explains it Nov 05 03, 1:21 AM

Doug1230

If I remember correctly, a sparkler is a composition comprising 25-30 parts by weight of an oxidizer at least one half of which is ammonium perchlorate; 3-14 parts by weight of iron or steel powder; from about 8 to about 15.6 parts by weight of a fuel, said fuel comprising a mixture of from about 20 to about 33 percent aluminum and/or magnesium powder and accelerators plus from about 67 percent to about 80 percent of a particulate combustible binder, blah blah blah said binder being capable of being activated by heat, solvent or a combination thereof to cause the bonding of the particles; 0 - 5 parts by weight of a combustion rate modifier and 0 - 5 parts by weight of a flame colorant said composition when bonded together are you still reading this into a relatively long thin rigid stick by heat, solvent or a combination thereof having a burning rate suitable for use as a sparkler and being capable of being ignited at one end and of burning progressively to the other end giving off a shower of sparks. Who ordered the veal shank? Nov 05 03, 8:27 AM

sequoianoir

The main fuel of a sparkler is sulphur and charcoal, as in black powder. The magnesium dust (and /or other metals) is to make the "sparks". Potassium nitrate is the usual oxidiser. Nov 05 03, 5:08 PM